*300 kanal Govt land retrieved
Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, Mar 19: Minister for Tribal Affairs, Javed Ahmed Rana, today said that the construction work of Rs. 168. 25 lakh 50 bedded ST (G&B) Hostel at Mahore is nearing completion.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by MLA, Khurshied Ahmed in the Legislative Assembly.
Rana informed the House that the work was started in the year 2009-10 at a cost of Rs. 96.13 lakh which was further revised to Rs. 168.25 lakh in the year 2017-18 and the work continued till 2018-19. He said that the remaining works like construction of boundary wall and other allied works have also been completed during the financial year 2022-23. The hostel has a capacity of accommodating 50 inmates/students, he added.
However, the Minister said that since the building has remained in possession of security forces for a considerable period, it needs some more repairs and renovation to make it worth for utilization.
Javed Rana said that no compensation has been paid to the land owner, so far, and the acquisition proceedings have already been initiated for determining the compensation amount payable, which is under active consideration of concerned authorities.
He further informed that an amount of Rs. 40 lakh, approved under the UT Capex Budget 2023-24, has already been released and is available with the Collector Land Acquisition (SDM), Mahore. However, SDM Mahore has demanded additional funds amounting Rs. 1.30 crore total aggregating to Rs. 1.70 crore approximately for payment of compensation to the land owners.
The Minster said that there is no staff sanctioned, so far, for making the said hostel functional.
Replying to another question of BA Veeri Javed Rana said that comprehensive DPR for an amount of Rs. 37.00 crore has been prepared to enhance carrying capacity of different canals of Bijbehara- Srigufwara constituency, which shall be part of project shelf of NABARD 2025-26.
The Minister said that regular drives are being conducted to restrict the encroachments on irrigation canals. Around 658 encroachments have been removed in the year 2024-25 in which 300.02 kanals of Government land was retrieved, he added.
Rana said that there are certain stretches of canals that have encroachment on the banks. However, the main watercourse is free from any encroachment which will not impede the flow. He said that barring some leakage spots and silt accumulation in certain stretches, there is no major bottleneck that will prevent from supplying adequate irrigation water.
Regarding de-silting of the canals, the Minister informed that under M&R grants, 17 km (in canals of Bijbehara/Srigufwara constituency) has been desilted during 2024-25 at an expenditure of Rs. 5.82 lakh. He added that the Rural Development Department undertook desilting in 8 km with a cost of Rs. 3.17 lakh.
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